Doctors often give people cholesterol-lowering medicines to help them stay healthy, especially as they get older. These medicines are known to lower the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other problems that often come with aging.
There are a few kinds of cholesterol drugs. The most common ones are called statins. You might have heard of Lipitor or Crestor—these are examples of statins.
Statins help by slowing down how much cholesterol the body makes. There’s also a newer kind of medicine called PCSK9 inhibitors. These drugs work differently by helping the body remove cholesterol from inside its cells.
Both types of medicine are very good at lowering cholesterol. But some new research has found that these drugs might have surprising side effects. For example, scientists found that PCSK9 inhibitors might affect the lungs. Right now, they still don’t fully understand the long-term effects, so more research is needed.
Statins might cause other unexpected changes. Some people who take statins may gain weight or have more body fat. Statins may also lower the level of a hormone called testosterone, which is important for both men and women.
But not all the news is bad. One study showed that statins might make a part of the brain called the hippocampus bigger. The hippocampus helps with memory and emotions, so this could be helpful in lowering the risk of problems like dementia or depression.
This research was led by Kitty Pham, a Ph.D. student at the University of South Australia. Her team used genetic data to study how these drugs affect the body. Genetic data is like a blueprint for how your body works. By looking at these blueprints, scientists can learn how people with different genes react to the same medicine.
In this case, they found that people with certain genes were more likely to gain weight when taking statins. Studying genes helps researchers get answers more quickly than doing long-term human trials, which take years and a lot of money.
So, what should you do with this information? First of all, don’t stop taking your cholesterol medicine without talking to your doctor. These medicines are still important for protecting your health. But it’s good to be aware of possible side effects.
If you take statins and you notice weight gain, or if you’re using a PCSK9 inhibitor and feel short of breath, let your doctor know. It might be related to the medicine.
This kind of research helps doctors understand medicines better and gives people better choices when it comes to their health. Knowing more means you and your doctor can make the best decision together.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about top 10 foods for a healthy heart, and how to eat right for heart rhythm disorders.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to eat your way to cleaner arteries, and salt and heart health: does less really mean more?
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